India, Westinghouse In 'Advanced Talks To Close Nuclear Deal: Ambassador

Toshiba Corp's Westinghouse Electric and India are in "advanced discussions" for the company to build six nuclear reactors there, the country's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday, ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to Washington next week.
A deal with Westinghouse would be the first such contract reached under the 2008 U.S.-India civil nuclear accord.
"There is a very detailed and advanced negotiation between Westinghouse and India," Ambassador Arun Singh told reporters. "The issues that remain to be worked out are related to cost and financing."
Progress on the deal to build six AP-1000 nuclear reactors is one of the key developments anticipated during the June 7-8 visit by Modi to Washington, where he will be hosted by President Barack Obama for a final summit before the U.S. presidential election in November. Modi will address both houses of Congress.
The United States and India agreed in 2008 to cooperate in the civil nuclear arena, but there have been no agreements yet to build any plants.
Reuters reported Tuesday that Westinghouse and India reached a breakthrough after officials said it will relocate the planned project in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The original site proposed for the multi-billion-dollar project, in Modi's home state of Gujarat, faced local opposition.
Another obstacle had been to bring India's liability rules into line with international norms, which require the costs of an accident to be channeled to the operator rather than the maker of a nuclear power station.
That issue had been largely resolved to the satisfaction of the U.S. government in January 2015 after the United States and India reached a "breakthrough understanding" on nuclear cooperation.
Singh told reporters "to the best of my knowledge" insurance was no longer an issue in the discussions.
Westinghouse had hoped to clinch a deal to build six nuclear reactors in India by the end of March, during Modi's last Washington trip to attend a global nuclear summit.
U.S. lawmakers ratified the civil nuclear accord three years after it was struck in 2005, as part of an attempt to deepen the strategic relationship with India, but have expressed growing dismay over its failure to yield follow-on deals for U.S.-based reactor makers.http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/06/india-westinghouse-in-advanced-talks-to.html

India has taken three steps to implement the historic civil nuclear deal with the US to enhance confidence of the domestic and foreign companies in the country’s nuclear industry, a top American diplomat said.

The India-US nuclear cooperation agreement was signed in 2008, under which US-based Westinghouse and GE Hitachi were to build six power reactors each in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Addressing a Congressional subcommittee during a hearing on South Asia on Thursday, acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells said India has taken three actions to implement the deal and Westinghouse found these steps “sufficient”.

The first step taken by them is that they joined the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. This multilateral treaty lays out a framework for liability, and the second step was announcement of guidance on its domestic nuclear legislation which was in conformance with the law, Wells said.

The third step India did was to set up a domestic insurance pool and for operators and vendors for liability for nuclear accidents, Wells said.

“Those three steps are designed to increase confidence in the domestic and foreign companies in the nuclear industry,” she said in response to a question from Congressman Brad Sherman who asked if India plans to change its liability laws to put American nuclear power plants builders on the same liability footing as those entities that have sovereign immunity, such as those from China, France, and Russia.

“All I can say is that Westinghouse found them so sufficient,” she said, noting that $10 billion in US content and export content in the nuclear deal can generate 15,000 jobs.

India has taken three steps to implement the historic civil nuclear deal with the US to enhance confidence of the domestic and foreign companies in the country’s nuclear industry, a top American diplomat said.

The India-US nuclear cooperation agreement was signed in 2008, under which US-based Westinghouse and GE Hitachi were to build six power reactors each in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Addressing a Congressional subcommittee during a hearing on South Asia on Thursday, acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells said India has taken three actions to implement the deal and Westinghouse found these steps “sufficient”.

The first step taken by them is that they joined the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. This multilateral treaty lays out a framework for liability, and the second step was announcement of guidance on its domestic nuclear legislation which was in conformance with the law, Wells said.

The third step India did was to set up a domestic insurance pool and for operators and vendors for liability for nuclear accidents, Wells said.

“Those three steps are designed to increase confidence in the domestic and foreign companies in the nuclear industry,” she said in response to a question from Congressman Brad Sherman who asked if India plans to change its liability laws to put American nuclear power plants builders on the same liability footing as those entities that have sovereign immunity, such as those from China, France, and Russia.

“All I can say is that Westinghouse found them so sufficient,” she said, noting that $10 billion in US content and export content in the nuclear deal can generate 15,000 jobs.

“We were told that, by the end of the year, Westinghouse would really rework its situation and really be back in business,” India’s foreign secretary, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, told a briefing, referring to an exit from bankruptcy.

The two leaders “looked forward to conclusion of contractual agreements between Westinghouse Electric Company and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India for six nuclear reactors in India and also related project financing,” the communique said.

china will ofcourse. how can china NOT give NSG to pakistan, with AQ Khan who was himself a nuclear supplier with chinese blessings

Lets say, i since these days we are showing the boldness to actually use those choke points which affects china, china will have to make concessions than to appease pakistan which is just a growing liability for china